North Wales Crime tsar Winston Roddick patrolled the town centre with the team of good Samaritans on a recent busy Friday night to see how they have helped police cut violent crime in Wrexham’s town centre by 60% over nearly 10 years.

The Crime Commissioner paid tribute to the work of the inter-denominational church response team, which was set up in 2006 and takes to the night-time streets to engage with people to offer care and a listening ear.

As well as a big drop in violent crime in the town centre since they started, there’s also been a big reduction in anti-social behaviour said police chiefs.

And according to the Street Pastors, handing out lollipops is a great way of diffusing potentially violent confrontations.

Wrexham Street Pastors’ co-ordinator, Gareth Hughes, the minister of Christchurch, an independent evangelical church which holds Sunday services at Acton Community Resource Centre, said the team is made up of people from a number of denominations.

He said: “The team works in Wrexham town centre every Saturday night and two Friday nights a month. We are usually out from 10am until 4am. It’s about having a presence on the street and offering care, practical support and a listening ear.

“When we started in 2006 it was seen as a novelty perhaps and we did get some aggression. But we are so well known now we are accepted and people actually look for us if, and when, they need help.”

He added: “What we do is look out for people who are distressed and alone. It may be they have had too much to drink and have lost their friends.”

The oldest street pastor is 84 while there are several aged in their late teens.

There are more than 30 street pastors from 15 different Wrexham churches.

Retired health worker Mary Roberts, 64, a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church Wrexham, said: “It’s really all about helping people who have had too much drink, or if they are sick or just in need of help. We very often find young girls drink too much and lose their friends.

“The street can be a dangerous place for girls like that so we are there to step in and offer help.

“I know my own children would go clubbing and I’d have been far happier if I’d known there were street pastors keeping an eye on the streets then.”

Street Pastor, Gilbert Roberts puts an empty can into a public bin

She added: “We will pick up any discarded bottles and cans and dispose of them and we carry flip-flops to hand out to girls who may have had too much to drink and can’t walk on their high heels.

“We also hand-out lollipops, it’s remarkable how a lollipop can diffuse a potentially violent confrontation.”

Mr Roddick said: “Street Pastors are an essential balustrade, something people can lean on for help and support when they have had too much to drink, are lost or simply in need of help.

He added: “Having spent a night with the Street Pastors in Wrexham I really have been impressed by the work they do. The public should be very grateful as they are clearly having a very positive impact on Wrexham town centre late at night.”

Police Inspector Simon Kneale stressed the work of the street pastors cannot be underestimated.

He said: “The positive impact they have had since their introduction in 2006 has been remarkable. Violent crime, such as assaults, has dropped by as much as 60% as has anti-social behaviour.”

“They definitely offer a calming influence and are a real benefit to us,” he added.